Jim Bridger, the former Public Belt Railroad general manager who admitted misspending agency money, was sentenced this morning in federal court to two years of probation. Bridger, 56, pleaded guilty last August to one count of misappropriation of funds.

Jim Bridger, the former Public Belt Railroad general manager who admitted misspending agency money, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to two years of probation.

He faced a maximum 10 years in prison, although federal sentencing guidelines called for a much more lenient sentence due to his lack of a criminal history and the modest amount of public money he acknowledged misspending.

Bridger also has paid $5,667 in restitution, and U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval, who imposed the sentence, ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine.

Bridger declined to speak on his own behalf during the brief sentencing hearing. He also steered clear of reporters afterward.

As head of the once-obscure agency, Bridger was accused of running amok with a public railroad credit card, spending on lavish lunches and boozy private jaunts on the railroad's lovingly restored Pullman cars. Public Belt rail lines traverse Orleans and Jefferson parishes and include the Huey P. Long Bridge.

Bridger resigned in 2010, as news reports on his spending of public agency funds threw a spotlight on the agency's board and the 16-year terms of its members.

In November, New Orleans voters approved a City Charter amendment to shrink the railroad's commission to nine members serving four-year terms, plus the mayor.

Bridger also has pleaded guilty to state charges of theft and malfeasance in office, over nine trips on the Pullman cars that authorities deemed personal. A legislative auditor's report found that Bridger's personal trips totalled $9,975 in misused money.

"Since I run the railroad I can do anything that I want to do with the rail cars. Therefore, you will be having Kevin's birthday party aboard the 'Louisiana' and your party is on me," he said in one email to his neighbor. "I will pick up the caterer and booze/wine as well."

The party was paid for by the railroad.

On several occasions Bridger at first told authorities the trips they were scrutinizing involved railroad business, then admitted otherwise when confronted with emails and other evidence.

He will be sentenced May 3 on the state charges and will receive a concurrent sentence that is no longer than the federal sentence. Bridger offered an "Alford" plea to the state charges, meaning he does not admit guilt but concedes that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him.

Ralph Capitelli, Bridger's attorney, said Bridger would pay back the money for the rail trips as well.

Capitelli blamed the heavy government scrutiny of Bridger's spending on "unprecedented media coverage for what it was." He told Duval that Bridger's plea didn't come as part of any deal.

"This was not a plea bargain. They looked at Jim under a microscope and these are the charges," Capitelli said.

According to the legislative auditor's report, some railroad board members also took personal trips on the Pullman cars. Three of them told auditors they thought the trips were perks. Former Public Belt board members who reimbursed the agency include Sharon Perlis, Jean Felts, Arnold Baker, Tina Owen and Roderick West. None was charged.